Budget Approval Amidst Transparency Concerns at Cyprus University of Technology
In a decisive session, the House of Representatives granted approval to the Cyprus University of Technology’s (Tepak) budget for 2024, despite MPs voicing significant transparency concerns and referencing the institution’s history of financial scandals. The unanimous vote marked the finalization of the last public body’s budget for the upcoming year.
However, the approval did not come without stringent conditions. Lawmakers took a firm stance by ‘crossing’ two particular spending items in the University budget. These items pertained to Tepak’s procurement of private sector services and its expenditures on property rentals. Tepak is now mandated to seek parliamentary approval for fund release whenever these expenses are to be incurred.
An additional amendment addressed an administrative issue that had previously delayed the budget’s passage. The proposed bill initially suggested a controversial change: the head of Tepak’s management and finances department would cease to function as the financial auditor, transferring this role to the head of studies and student welfare. This would have allowed Tepak to effectively audit its own finances, a move deemed irregular and potentially illegal by Auditor-General Odysseas Michaelides. The amendment, however, nullified this clause, maintaining the existing auditing structure.
The delay in submitting Tepak’s budget, which totals €100 million, was harshly criticized by MPs on the House floor. They described the delay as a form of ‘blackmail’, given that failure to pass the budget could result in university staff going unpaid. This pressure was felt acutely when it was revealed that March salaries were disbursed from the university’s pension fund due to the expiration of the ‘twelfths’ system at February’s end.
The ‘twelfths’ system allows organizations to continue paying staff based on the previous year’s budget appropriations during January and February while awaiting budget approval. With this system no longer in effect after February, Tepak resorted to extraordinary measures to ensure faculty and employees received their March salaries.